The convenience of playing games in the cloud

Gamers probably spend much of their time playing on their mobile devices. Sure, the experience is far from reaching console-quality, but it is a convenient getaway in between bus rides and lunch breaks. We have found a major issue with mobile gaming, though, one that is actually quite annoying.

Game progress is saved locally in most cases. And even if it is possible to retrieve the save file, it can be a confusing (or unworthy) process for many users. Especially when one is formatting devices often, or purchasing new ones every few months (which is now very common). Some users also have multiple devices, sometimes with different operating systems. I fall under all mentioned categories, and honestly, I would rather not go through the trouble of downloading and transferring all the data.

This is what the cloud is for, and developers could take great advantage of it. For example, I already went through all the Angry Birds levels a long time ago. I haven’t played the game since then, mostly because I also lost my progress… a long time ago. It would be much more enticing to re-download games to new devices if one knew that all those levels don’t have to be played all over, again.

I have just started using the Chrome App for Dark Legends. Sure, it may look like a simple port from the mobile version. It also needs controller support and more PC-friendly settings, but there is one thing where it beats most of the competition. It is the perfect example of what the future of gaming could be. Not only can I play this game on my Chrome Browser, but I can also enjoy it with any Android or iOS device. And the best part? The multi-platform game is synchronized among all devices and operating systems.

No matter what device I use, I start where I left off last time I played. And regardless of how long I don’t play it, I know I can come right back to it. Even if it is multiple months or phones later.

This MMORPG is played completely online, but the features it offers don’t necessarily require that. Multi-platform game progress saving could be more than possible if developers allowed us to have the records in their servers. If that would be too much of a load for them, another option would be to make the app compatible with services like Google Drive or Dropbox. We could simply save the files in our own cloud storage.

It is a small feature that would make a huge difference. But it seems not many developers are taking this route. I won’t stop playing all those games, as I surely enjoy them. In the long run, though, I am sure developers like Spacetime Studios (Star Legends, Pocket Legends and Dark Legends developer) will keep me around for much longer. What about you?